random pics from qbw

St Clair
Karitane
Brighton Beach (Dunedin)
Jonty
Saltwater pools St Clair

the photos to go with the story qbw

St Clair with St Kilda in the background...man it was cold
















The Otago Harbour looking back towards the city

queen's birthday weekend

We had a fabulous weekend in Dunedin with Jasmine and our friend Marie-Anne. It was cold and a bit snowy but we had such a lovely time shopping, walking about the lovely town of Dunedin and also discovering some new parts of the area.

We stopped at Fleurs Place in Moeraki on the way down the country and discovered what all the fuss was about. It was a fabulous place to visit on a cold wintery day. We had delicious fishy food and divine desserts. Both Marie-Anne and I ran in to people we knew which is so South Island. Nicholas loved the staircase and spent a lot of time going up and down. We played outside climbing the tree and make believe in the old boat. Check out the weblink for a look.

Jasmine had sorted out some accomodation for us. It was pretty nice and we got a good price. It was a little challenging with no kitchen and one room but we ended up having a lovely time at her flat with the pierced, dreaded and tattood friends. Great conversation around the table over soup, bread and wine. Dave the boyfriend has bought the house and is doing a fab job of doing it up and excavating a room under the house. Very impressive. Nic spent the majority of his time playing with the cat flap and shrieking with excitement everytime the poor cat ventured in to the room.

We also visited the 'mushrooms'. Dave and his mate Sam run Shadow Gourmet - an oyster mushroom growing concern. Again, very impressive. Both guys put heaps of time and effort in to the business and are clearly passionate about their product. Really inspiring.

One afternoon J and N and J and I headed south to see what was happening along the coast. The weather was crap but we loved it and the Tairei Mouth was gorgeous. We headed down to Lake Waihola and back up to Dunedin. Marie-Anne had gone home by then as she was only staying one night.

On our last day we headed to the beach - of course and had a coffee at St Clair. We dropped Jasmine off at the hairdressers as we headed out of town and by the time we got home she had sent us some picks of her very short hair. Looked great. It had snowed the night before so we decided to come home through Port Chalmers instead of the Northern Motorway which is not flash in the snow. What a fantastic discovery that was. We went to Aramoana too and just loved it. Over the hill through the snow and to Karitane for lunch. Beautiful doesn't begin to describe it. Up to Timaru and a cuppa with Marie-Anne and home. A fantastic weekend with our girl and Marie-Anne.

See above for some more photos

life is unpredictable

Well it is snowing today but I don't have any photos of it. After a sublime day yesterday where we went on an urban adventure and then spent hours in the garden like a summers day, it is a bit of a shock to be freezing cold today. I love the idea that it can be summer and winter all in one 24 hour period. Yay Christchurch.

Some pics from our day yesterday

Lunch

Nicholas took this photo with only a little help from his mother
Trike crazy

random

I seem to be getting a backlog of pictures and things so am miles behind now. Sorry to any family who regularly log on to find nothing new of interest.
Nic was desperate to get up in the tree but his mean old mother wouldn't let him because he had his good clothes on. I don't think Frances was too keen to share her posi anyway. Next time Nic.

trike adventures

Nic, Granny Rosemary and I took a Sunday morning stroll through the lovely Chistchurch Botanic Gardens and Arts Centre. Nic was great biking all that way with no complaints or trike abandonment. It was cold but not nasty. Fog dial

Round and round the fountain

Sculpture - one of many

Busy weekend

We started off chatting about the weekend on Thursday night and decided it would be a quiet one based on what we had planned. Somehow it turned out to be just the opposite which was great. What fun we have had.

Firstly we went to the Lyttelton Farmers Market and it was freezing cold with a southerly wind roaring around the area. We did a frantic round of grabbing and tasting and buying the then got out of there. Nicholas was lightening fingered tasting all there was to taste. I had to buy something he fingered. Here are some snaps from our visit.

But first here is our list of goodies

• one piece of feijoa crumble (the one Nicholas put his finger on)
• one jar of dukkah
• three delicious cheese straws
• one very large container of coriander - growing
• six pieces of bright green lime and pistachio fudge

On the way to the car we ran in to an on photography class friend of mine which was great.

Nic was cold. The market is in the grounds of the school so there are some lovely murals and things

Delicious!!

...and that was before lunch. Lunch and the afternoon was spent with our friends Steph and Andy and their family. We had yummy artichoke soup fresh crusty bread and lots of laughs. Frances climbed the tree but mean mummy wouldn't let Nic get up there too as he had his good clothes on. They still had a blast riding bikes. We spent the evening at home lounging on our new sofas watching 'The motorcycle diaries' which was a really good film.

There seems to be a limit to the number of pics you can put on each blog entry so I will start another with a few extra photos.

We delivered our no longer needed sofa to the bach which was a mission. Rob from next door helped us with the last bit. He and his lovely wife had a baby two weeks ago about two houses down as they didn't make it to the car let alone the hospital. Luckily it was at the doctors house. Mind you the doctor hadn't delivered a baby for more than a few years so it was a full on time. I got to hold the little babe. She has no name yet but what a sweetie. Then home to get the trailer loaded, the boys fed and ready for a three year old birthday party. That was fun. Then off to my folks to catch up with uncle David who was in town to attend the 125 year anniversary of ChCh Boys High School with dad. They had a great time. David presented me with my grandmothers wedding ring which was pretty amazing. She died 20 years ago and I never even thought about her jewellery so now I am wearing a lovely gold band on my right hand. It is very special to me as I loved my granny and had lots of lovely times with her. It was a pretty emotional thing.

So Dancing with the Stars in about 4 minutes so I better go. Might do the ironing while I watch it. Have a good week.

photo day

Today I worked at the stunning New Brighton library. I decided to take my camera to work to record the gorgeousness of the place and here is what I saw. How lucky I was to have a perfect day to do this

The view out of my office window in the morning

Looking southeast

Scratch graffitti

Old and new

Smog sunset

...and some more mothers

Couldn't get this software to work for me...not for the first time I must say ...

Anne - the mother of all mothers.

My best friend Karen with her mad daughter Anna and Gill in the background with Anika. We had had a great day at the beach that day.

Lisa proudly watching her lovely boy mastering water skiing.

And my lovely mother Rosemary who is so kind and caring and a super grandmother. Here she is with Olivia a year or two ago.

Now, the fact that I could not find a photo of my dear friend Alex who is a great mother is frightening. I will just have to get out there with my camera and take more photos. Happy Mothers Day!

Mothers Day

Mother's day is an interesting day. I am not sure I feel any more valued as a mother but I am definately part of the 'in crowd' for the day. I had to work all day today so I got to see other mothers with their families. I worked with three other mothers, a father and someone who lost her mother several years ago and whom I imagine doesn't really enjoy the day as much as we do. We went to my sisters for dinner and my parents were there and Simon's too. It was a fun evening. The children had a ball. Nicholas discovered that Olivia has a bed that is a car... a Lamborghini Diablo no less. He told me he 'loves' it.

So here are some photos of some lovely mothers I know...me first


My sister and her darling Olivia. Ria and her sporty go hard mum. Jane and Ella on the swing. Gill my very cool cousin with her angel Anika in the backpack
My lovely friend Steph and Frances.

weekend in Victoria

Many apologies to my family who make the pilgrimage to this page for interesing updates and find that I am being totaly useless at getting the postings done.

So, first thing Saturday I snuck out of bed to sit with Nicholas in the lounge being that he had been up since 6am. There was Pete my cousie sitting on the couch. He was obviously waiting for us all to get up and get going so we could head up to Eildon for the weekend.

We spent the weekend helping with the houseboat. It is on land at present getting rebuilt, cleaned up and painted. We did heaps of painting and helping. It made us realise how much work Pete and Lisa put in to getting the houseboat this far. Man, they are hard working.

So, we spent some time helping and then on Sunday we went for a spin the fizz boat around the lake, looking at the other houseboats and then supporting Keirran while he did some very cool water skiing. It was April and he had on a life vest and a pair of boardies. Teenagers. He was pretty bloody good for a kid who has been skiing for one year. We were all way impressed.

The countryside we drove through on the way up to Lake Eildon was gorgeous. Really green and pretty and it felt like a treasured part of the country. Much prettier than anything else we had seen anywhere inland previously. Lovely wine country. Looking forward to visiting again and spending some time on the lake.

Headed home on Sunday evening and I cooked up a feast and it was an early night for us so we could be up an out of there for our 9am flight. Took much longer to get across the city than we expected so there was a little bit of tension in the air.

I went to my favourite shop at the airport - Accessorize - and bought some pressies for my family and some things for myself. That was the only shopping I managed to do in Melbourne.

It was a great time with the family though. Love them lots and really enjoy hanging out with such nice people.

day six - Apollo Bay to Melbourne

Another wet start to the day and the same intermittent raining and sun all day. It was a fun day which saw us hook up with my cousin Pete and family in Kilsyth at the very edge of Melbourne. We left the Melbourne Zoo at 5.30 on a Friday night in the rain and had a slow but very civil journey on the Eastern Motorway. Got to love the Aussie drivers. Anyway, what did we see? We went to Lorne and had a cuppa...another dud I am afraid. A couple of chicks hanging out in Lorne

Headed along the very gorgeous coastline through all the lovely bays. Saw the 'house on the stick' which is used in the McCains pizza ad. Lighthouse at Airey's Inlet. Made up for the fac that we got to Cape Otway lighthouse and decided not to go and find the lighthouse due to the cost and the fact that the heavens opened.

We also stopped at the legendary Bell's Beach which was hugely exciting. They were setting up for the Rip Curl Pro which added to the air of excitiment.On the way out of Torquay all the outlet stores and was itching to get in there and spend money but we kept on moving. Bollards on the waterfront in Geelong

We stopped for a sandwich in Geelong but didnt do any exploring because N was asleep in the back. The we headed for the zoo.
Melbourne Zoo is just lovely although the elephant's were elusive and the tiger was playing hard to get. We had a great time in the Butterfly House and checking out some of the other treats. Nicholas really enjoyed it which was his reward for being sensationally good in the back seat of the car for 6 days. Lovely boy!